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Sony, Panasonic, Sumitomo and Screen Holdings to Cooperate in Raising ¥100b for JOLED
December 11, 2017

Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp., which each have a 10% stake in JOLED are helping to raise ¥100 billion for mass production of advanced panels. Sumitomo Chemical Co. and Screen Holdings Co. are also likely to take part in the planned fundraising by JOLED, with the four contributors expected to each provide ¥5 billion to ¥10 billion. Talks are continuing with other potential investors to raise the remaining funds, the sources said. JOLED was spun off from Sony and Panasonic in 2015 in a government-backed effort to consolidate development of organic light-emitting diode panels used in the displays of smartphones and TVs. The company announced Tuesday it is seeking to raise ¥100 billion by March through a third-party allocation of new shares, without providing details on specific investors. JOLED hopes to use the cash to begin mass production printed OLED panels.  JOLED is targeting the small monitor market that is not addressed by Samsung and LG. The state-backed investment fund Innovation Network Corp. of Japan owns a 75 percent stake in JOLED. Japan Display owns 15 percent while Sony and Panasonic each have 5 percent. Sumitomo Chemical supplies JOLED with materials used in OLED displays while Screen builds the manufacturing equipment for their production. TV panel prices have been dropping over the last 6 months due to an oversupply condition but Sigmaintell expects prices to stabilize in the first quarter of 2018. But Samsung and virtually every other major TV brand have been reducing their forecasts for 2018, leading us to believe TV shipments will likely fall next year.